


Rain

by DaughterOfDungeonBat



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Leonardo worries, M/M, Minor Injuries, Non-graphic injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 05:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10915311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterOfDungeonBat/pseuds/DaughterOfDungeonBat
Summary: Ezio has been on the road for a while, and dealing with the difficulties associated with being an assassin traveling through Italy.Luckily, he knows where to seek shelter from the harsh life he leads.





	Rain

Rain in Italy was not always cold. Sometimes it was warm; a welcome gift from the heavens that stripped the first few layers of grime from weary travelers. The same cleansing showers that drew children from their homes until they were soaked to the skin and squealing in glee as their mothers chased them away from growing puddles of water and mud.  
This was not that sort of rain. It was as harsh as it was icy, slamming like sharp hail against the skin and chilling any soul unlucky enough to be caught in it until their very bones ached with cold.  
Ezio huddled against the lone tree, hood pulled tightly over his face in a vain attempt to shield his face from the biting rain drops. His clothes had been soaked for some time, so his meager shelter offered little relief from the aching cold that had long since seeped into his skin. He shifted slightly, tucking his body against the trunk with a longing glance at the horizon that was quickly fading from his sight in the storm and the oncoming night. Despite the cold, despite the pelting rain, Ezio longed to run for it, run until he reached the city.  
Another gust of wind made Ezio flinch, and the purpling wounds across his ribs screamed in protest, reminding him that even if he tried to make it to the city tonight, his battered body would collapse long before he reached the safety of Leonardo’s workshop.  
And for the first time, Ezio was warmed, if only slightly. His clattering teeth and bluing lips curled into the subtlest of smiles as he thought of what awaited him in less than a day, when he arrived bloody and beaten on Leonardo’s doorstep, and the raging storm faded to the edges of his focus. Instead of the cold cloth plastered to his skin, Ezio thought of the soft bed that awaited him in the city, and the warmth of Leonardo he would also find within its walls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ezio knocked on the door as he opened it, quickly closing it behind him with a kick. He walked stiffly, cradling his left forearm to keep the homecoming present from the guards from bleeding. There was a crash from somewhere in the workshop.  
“Just a moment!” Leonardo called, muffled, and Ezio chuckled deep in his chest. Leonardo stumbled into view, his words as jumbled as his apologies. Then, his eyes met those of his visitor.  
“Ezio!” Leonardo cried, flinging his arms around Ezio’s broad shoulders. Ezio winced, but wrapped his uninjured arm around Leonardo. “It has been too long, my Ezio.”  
“I know, Leonardo, I know….” he said, flinching more at the truth in Leonardo’s words than the sting of his wounds as Leonardo pulled away. The artist’s brilliant blue eyes were shining, and the candlelight reflecting off his hair made it shine like a halo around his head.  
And, Ezio discovered when Leonardo pressed against him again, his lips tasted like wine. He wrapped Leonardo in his arms and lifted him off his feet, swallowing Leonardo’s squeak of surprise with a sly smile. Ezio let Leonardo down a moment later, pride swelling in his chest at the red of his cheeks.  
“I missed you, amore.” Ezio said quietly, as if admitting it was some sort of crime. Leonardo beamed at him.  
“And I- EZIO!” Leonardo cried out suddenly, his eyes falling at last to the bleeding slash on Ezio’s arm. He latched a hand to the front of the assassin’s shirt and dragged him towards his room, grabbing bandages as he went.  
“Leonardo, please- I’m fine, really!” Ezio said, laughing despite Leonardo’s panic as he was shoved onto the bed, but the laughter flipped to a hiss of pain as the wound on his arm was bandaged tightly. Leonardo ignored it.  
“Shirt, off.” He said plainly, prompting Ezio to shoot him a suggestive smile.  
“If you insist- “  
“Ezio!” Leonardo snapped, “I am serious! How many times have you told me you were fine and then collapsed at my feet?” The truth in the statement sent Ezio’s eyes to his still rain-soaked boots. He complied with Leonardo’s orders.  
“Dio mio my Ezio….” Leonardo gasped as the multitude of bruises and scabbed gashes over the assassin’s chest and back were revealed. “How did this happen to you?” Ezio’s first instinct was to lie, just as he would if his sister was asking, but the way Leonardo was looking at him with those eyes the color of the sky on a clear day, those same eyes he had longed for while the heavens opened onto his head, Ezio found the truth spilling from his tongue.  
“Templars,” he gestured to the parallel cuts over his ribs, “archer,” the healing round welts on his chest under his armor, “and, well, leap of faith gone wrong.” Ezio said almost sheepishly, turning to show Leonardo the sickly colored bruises over almost the entirety of his back. The shock and horror on Leonardo’s face cut just as sharply as any blade did his flesh, and no sword had ever burned like this. Ezio cleared his throat and excused himself to clean off, the words sounding stale to even himself.  
He returned a short time later, the blood, sweat, and dirt that had been building up over the last few days finally gone and his hair in a wet ponytail as he made his way back to Leonardo’s room. That was when Ezio heard the short, shaking breaths.  
He rounded the corner silently on instinct, finding Leonardo seated at the edge of his bed He was hunched over, occasionally rubbing at his eyes with a charcoal-darkened sleeve. His hair fell in a curtain around his face, hiding his expression- but the tension in Leonardo’s thin frame displayed his misery plainly.  
“Leonardo?” Ezio said quietly, and the artist nearly leapt out of his skin. A string of curses fell from his mouth as he tried in vain to hide his face. “What’s wrong, caro mio?” Leonardo shook his head and leaned heavily into Ezio when the assassin sat beside him. “You do not weep without reason, Leonardo. What has upset you?” Leonardo pressed his face into Ezio’s bare shoulder.  
“I worry about you, when you are gone.” He said, running a paint-spattered hand through his hair, leaving small streaks of color. “And seeing you so wounded….” Leonardo brushed his fingers over the welts left over Ezio’s chest by arrows. “Like here. If you hadn’t been wearing your armor, what would have happened to you?” Ezio nearly laughed it off, assured Leonardo that he would be fine, but those blue eyes, pleading and scared, sliced him to the core.  
“I won’t tell you that I will always be safe.” Leonardo swallowed dryly and nodded. Ezio pulled him close, tilting his chin upwards with a finger. “But I can tell you that I will always do everything in my power to return to you.” Leonardo smiled, if only slightly, as Ezio opened his arms in an invitation. He near flung himself into Ezio’s embrace, sending both of them falling backwards onto the bed. There was a spark of pain from the bruising on Ezio’s back, but it faded to unimportance as Leonardo settled beside him, head tucked into Ezio’s neck with an arm flung over his broad chest.  
“You’re warm.” Ezio said, wrapping an arm around Leonardo to keep him close. “Much better than my sleeping arrangements last night.” Leonardo quirked an eyebrow. “Ended up caught in the storm. Tree roots do not make conformable beds.” With a small noise, Leonardo reached a hand up to Ezio’s face, his talented fingers tracing over the thin scar on his lips. Ezio swatted the hand away gently with a low laugh.  
“Do not worry about it, Leonardo. I’m here now, that is what matters.”  
Leonardo huffed, and Ezio could hear his eyes rolling.  
“You get shot with arrows, cut to ribbons by Templar steel,” he muttered into the side of Ezio’s neck, “now you sleep in the pouring rain. You’re going to catch your death, whether by sword or sickness.” Before Ezio could respond, but not before a small smile could twist his lips, Leonardo pulled the blanket up to Ezio’s chin and over his own head. Ezio laughed, hard.  
“Goodnight, Leonardo.”  
“…goodnight.”


End file.
